Samuel Gott (20 January 1614 – 18 December 1671) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons of England The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of ...

between 1645 and 1648 and between 1660 and 1661.

Life

Gott was the eldest son of Samuel Gott, Ironmonger of London and his wife Elizabeth Russell. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School from 1626 to 1629. He was a student at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

in 1630 and was awarded BA in 1633. He entered

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1633 and was called to the bar in 1640.M.W. Helms/B.D. Hening, 'Gott, Samuel (1614-71), of Battle, Suss.', in B.D. Henning (ed.), ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690'' (from Boydell & Brewer, 1983)
History of Parliament Online
He moved to Sussex on his marriage. In April 1645, Gott was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. Th ...

in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

until he was excluded in

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

in 1648. He was an ancient on his Inn in 1658. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Sussex The office of Sheriff of Sussex was established before the Norman Conquest. The Office of sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office ...

for 1658–59 and in April 1660 he was elected MP for Winchelsea in the Convention Parliament. In June 1661 Gott is said to have reported treasonable words to the Privy Council in an attempt to find favour with the Crown. In 1663 Gott suffered a severe assault. John Machell of Hills, Horsham (later M.P. for Horsham, Sussex) had courted Gott's sister, but Gott (described as Barrister of Gray's Inn, and Justice of the Peace for Sussex) would not consent to the match. Machell called him to an ale-house, where he and his relative Isaac Tully were waiting for him. When he arrived, Tully went out of the room to prevent anyone assisting, and Machell beat Gott so badly he broke his arm. They were indicted and convicted and sentenced to fines of £1000 and £500 respectively. In this matter King Charles II wrote to his Chief Justice Sir Robert Hyde and others wishing them to levy these fines in full rigour by way of example. Gott wrote several religious works, including (so it is claimed) the ''Nova Solyma'' which was at one time attributed to

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

. He died aged 57. On his death he was buried at Battle. He had married Joan, the daughter and coheiress of Peter Farnden of Sedlescombe, Sussex, and had a son and two daughters. His son and heir

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

became an MP and a director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

Writings

*''An Essay of the True Happiness of Man Explicated & Illustrated'' (Underhill, 1650) *''The Divine History of the Genesis of the World'' (London: Printed by E.C. et A.C. for Henry Eversden, 1670)

Attributed

*''Nova Solyma, sive Institutio Christiani'' (1648, 1649) (''New Jerusalem, or the Christian Institution'')Thomas-Stanford, 'Samuel Gott' (as above).
Translation by Walter Begley, Full text (Internet Archive) Part 1

Translation by Walter Begley, Full text (Internet Archive) Part 2

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gott, Samuel 1614 births 1671 deaths Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Members of Gray's Inn High Sheriffs of Sussex English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1660 English religious writers 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers